Safety and Health

The safety, health and security of students and staff at Saltus are priorities. The School has a Safety and Health Committee which meets once a month to discuss issues that have arisen and to plan for future needs. As and when necessary, the Committee prepares reports for the Trustees and Buildings Committee.

Safety and Health Handbook

Upon arrival, a Safety and Health Handbook is issued to each new staff member. All staff wear photo identification badges. In addition, many of the staff undertake First Aid and CPR courses (renewable every two years).

Security

In order to make the site as secure as possible, there have been some recent changes to perimeter of the School, which now has electronic security gates which are locked during the school day. In addition, the School can no longer be accessed by the Canal Road gate adjacent to the swimming pool. The School employs a full-time security guard who is situated at the main gate on St. John’s Road and who monitors movement around the site. Saltus also has security cameras and a state-of-the-art alarm system.

Fire Drills and Secure Drills

There are Fire Drills at least three times a year. All students are made aware of their evacuation line number and evacuation route at the start of the school year, and evacuation routes are displayed in all classrooms. In addition, there are Secure Drills.

Nurse

Saltus employs a full-time registered nurse who is based in a First Aid suite. Staff are fully conversant with the Medical Procedures Policy in the School. The School Nurse is also responsible for updating staff and students with regard to health-related information including encouraging healthy eating.

School Counselor

The School Counselor consults with parents, teachers, administrators and community agencies to help meet the needs of the student(s) and help others to work effectively with the student(s).

The School Counselor, as a consultant, helps individuals think through problems and concerns, acquire more knowledge and skill and become more objective and self-confident.

A student who has a counseling relationship with a professional School Counselor has the right to privacy and confidentiality. Counseling relationships require an atmosphere of trust and confidence between the students and counselors. Exceptions to confidentiality exist when the student is at risk for harming themself, others, or if that student is being harmed.

Referral Process

Students may be referred to the professional school counsellor in the following ways:

Parent referral

Teacher referrals

Self-referral

A student may be referred to another service provider (i.e. Child and Adolescent Services, the Family Centre, Child and Family Services or to a private counselor) to receive support for family related issues, depression, anxiety, abuse, suicidal tendencies, trauma and behavior disorders.

The Counselor embraces the Code of Ethics and Standards of Practice of the American Counseling Association (ACA) and the American School Counselors Association (ASCA) and refers to these codes periodically or when faced with an ethical dilemma.